A Food Journey with 5B Gazette: An Introduction

I’m writing from the train between Milano and Firenze in Italy. It’s the second summer I brought my two kids here, exploring for purposes beyond simply traveling, exposure to new cultures or instilling in a sense of self-sufficiency, curiosity and vigilance. We are here for more than reuniting with my ancestry, though that’s certainly one reason I’m drawn to Italy.

And the food – simply, it makes traveling easier knowing I can be well nourished. Yet not all food in Italy is good for us, as we may naïvely believe. Yes, overall, it’s less contaminated than most American-grown food but even the native Roman sitting next to me, Simone, agrees there are too many “average” places to eat in Italy. His father is a spice expert, a guru one might say, and Simone traveled extensively with his family to places where producers honor the craft of cultivating pistachios, saffron, burrata or other such ingredients from diverse culinary regions all over Italy.

A half-Italian foodie, nutritionist and earth mama, I am visiting Italy to discover the roots of my family through food, like the regional ingredients we discover in gelato flavors highlighting delicacies of each big city and every small town. Last year was our gelato-tasting tour – from fior di latte, a Florentine specialty, to ricciarelli, a Sienese treat.

This year, we will meet with vegetable, grain and sheep farmers, chefs and gelato artisans, in addition to visiting ancient settlements, long-lost cousins and old friends. My kids are on vacation, yet I am preparing to bring families here next year to experience Italian food from the lens of the people who honor it most, from soil to fork.

In essence, this is my jam: making connections to where my food – our food – comes from and sharing these stories with others. It’s not an easy feat – and it drives my kids crazy. They roll their eyes when I ask the man at the fruit stand if the tomatoes are organic and the restaurant waiter where the slow-cooked chicken comes from. Customarily, cheese is described by region and classification on every Italian menu – including in the depiction of gelato.

There’s a story behind every ingredient, regional specialty, menu item and I revel in these stories. So, in addition to sharing about food people like Simone’s dad or ingredients like the creamy almond base in ricciarelli gelato, I’ll use this column to share all the stories I discover about food, so they enrich your life, as well.

In working with clients, I encounter nuances of health conditions, supplement trends, and new research on functional foods. As I read labels, I look up terms I cannot comprehend and where ingredients are sourced. I’ll share this information, as well as wellness myths and contributors to dis-ease, in hopes of inspiring you to dig deeper, inquire, improve.

As a local food advocate, I’ll discuss inequalities, inconveniences, and inconsistencies in the food industry, uncomfortable as they are to accept, Just this week in Milano, a museum exhibition at Parco Sempione highlighted such disparities: the United States spends more money on health care than any other country in the world; other than China, we have the highest percentage of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and industry; the US is one of the most educated countries on Earth. This paints a picture of poor heath, environmental contributors to health and utter lack of knowledge. I’ll share about our Earth and discuss food consciousness.

As a 6th generation Idahoan, I’ll bring food stories, wisdom and encouragement back home to our community where global agricultural challenges and food reverence exist on a micro-level. I’ll share through mom musings, a nature nutrition lens, a farmers’ fork, a producer’s palette and via kitchen conversations.

Everything we consume matters, and I’m here to talk about it all. My teenage son thinks I’m just “trying to be different than everybody else.” In many ways, he’s right – living by my food values in a country where my ideals are “fringe” is, quite frankly, ostracizing. Constant inquisitions, declining many “normal” foods, and often being uncomfortable in shared meal situations is common in my home, work, relationships and travel life – so much so, I wrote a book about it: “Clean Food, Messy Life: A food lover’s conscious journey back to self.” In this 18-year food journey, I hope readers will understand more about how knowing what I consume has shaped my life. And as this journey with 5B Gazette begins, I’ll bring these stories back to you and our community.